Still My Friend
by Faceless Charmer
Summary: Ryu-o has thought about Syaoran everyday since his friend left, hoping they might see each other again. Finally, his wish comes true. But Syaoran has changed. His eyes are dull, and his clothes are torn and bloody. Takes places when Syaoran is traveling on his own, searching for the feathers.


_This is inspired by a fan fiction I read quite some time ago, where Ryu-o and Clone Syaoran met up again while Syaoran was going around massacring people. But it should be different enough that none of you need to run off and tell that author that I've plagiarized her._

 **Still My Friend**

It had taken quite a long time, but eventually, they'd managed to get the World Of Oto up and running again. During that time, Ryu-o had been extremely bored, because he couldn't very well go around challenging people to sword fights in the real world, and spent most of his time thinking about his friend, Syaoran, who he had mostly known as Little Puppy.

Syaoran and his friends had been gone for almost a year now, and Ryu-o thought about them daily. Where had they come from? Where had they gone? Would he ever see them again? Something about Little Puppy had seemed special, right from the start, but he'd never imagined it was something as cool as magical adventures, or whatever it was they were doing.

Once everyone was finally authorized to go back to the country of Oto, Ryu-o left him home immediately, and ran to the park where the online game was played. He couldn't wait to see the others again. He had tried hard, but he hadn't managed to make real contact with Yuzuriha, Kusanagi, and even Souma, after the chaos had finally cleared, and everything went back to normal. He was sure they'd go back to that country too. He was excited.

It took a long time for him to reach the front of the line. After all, hundreds of people had come to get reconnected to Oto, dying to go back to the better lives they had built in an online world.

But finally, Ryu-o was in his pod, and within seconds, his eyes were opening to the wonderful world of Oto.

"Alright!" he shouted, pumping his fist into the air. Within seconds, he was running towards the river, where he and his friends had often met whenever they needed to rendezvous. As he ran, he passed The Cat's Eye Cafe, the cafe that Little Puppy and his unusual friends had run. He stopped for a second, and looked at it.

Syaoran, we'll meet again, right!?

...I don't know...but...Get stronger! Much stronger!

Their last words to each other were still burned into his memory. Had Syaoran gotten stronger since then? He hoped so hard that one day he could see him again, and they could cross swords.

Finally, he got to the river.

There, waiting for him, smiles on their faces, were three people.

He quickly ran to join them.

*(*)

A few months passed, and things were back to normal for Ryu-o. Days spent fighting Oni, and fighting side by side with his friends.

Then, one day, he was walking alone, things calm and peaceful. He walked towards The Cat's Eye Cafe, which was no longer known as such, as it had been taken over by someone new. Know, it sold dresses and shoes. Ryu-o never went in, but he liked to walk by, and feel nostalgic.

He froze in his steps though, this time. There, in front of the store, was a boy. All Ryu-o could see was the back of his head, but it was enough. He had brown spiky hair, and he was about Ryu-o's size. The boy was staring at old cafe, not moving.

"It can't be..." Ryu-o gasped, but he already knew it was.

"Syaoran!"

The boy didn't turn around, like he hadn't heard Ryu-o. As he came up behind him, Ryu-o put his hand out to touch Syaoran's shoulder, to get his attention. Seconds later, Ryu-o was jumping back as far as he could, as a sword cut through the air, inches from hitting him.

"Syaoran, it's me! Calm down!" Ryu-o shouted. Syaoran was facing him now, and Ryu-o's heart pounded heavily in his chest as he took in the boy's appearance. His clothes were ripped, and bloody. And his eyes were dull, like he was seeing nothing.

"Syaoran...is that, real blood?" Ryu-o asked. Nobody bleed in the country of Oni. Once you died, you simply vanished, and awoke in the park. But Syaoran was covered in blood non-the-less.

"What's wrong with you?"

This dull eyed, bloody boy who had attacked him couldn't be his friend. He had to be somebody else. But Ryu-o knew. It was him.

"I will get the feathers back. Without fail." Syaoran finally spoke.

"The feathers? Syaoran, where are the others? Where's Little Kitty? And Big Kitty? And Big Puppy?" Ryu-o's guts twisted in his stomach as he considered the possibility that it was their blood. But there was no way. Syaoran would never have hurt them...

When he heard the names, Syaoran, for the first time since they'd come face to face, changed expressions. He went from looking dull and uncaring, to wearing a slight frown, like he was trying to remember where he had heard those names before.

Something had happened to them. To him. Something really, really bad.

"Is that blood?" he asked again, and this time, Syaoran seemed to have processed the question, looking at his clothes, and the blade he held in his arms.

"I will destroy anyone who gets in my way of the feathers." he said robotically, like it was all he was hearing in his mind. Like he had been brainwashed.

"You killed people!?" Ryu-o gasped, taking a step back. Syaoran watched him make the movement, and something in his eyes flickered. For just a brief second, he looked hurt. Then it passed. But Ryu-o had seen. His friend was still deep inside their somewhere, fighting to escape what he had become.

"Nobody can stop me, from finding the feathers." Syaoran was definitely stronger, much stronger. Ryu-o could sense it. But the power felt so dark.

"Where are they, Syaoran? Where are your friends?"

Syaoran stared back, then said slowly, "I...don't know."

"You didn't kill them, Syaoran?" Ryu-o asked it slowly, like he was speaking to a small child, which was ridiculous. Who would ask a small child such a question?

Syaoran, unfortunately, didn't answer right away, and seemed to think about this.

"I ripped out...his eye. He...may be dead."

Ryu-o's heart squeezed in his chest, terror pumping through his veins.

"Who? Whose eye did you rip out?"

Syaoran was starting to look like he was really hearing him now, like he was really thinking.

"It was...Fai-san...I...ripped out Fai-san's eye."

Fai? Which one was that? He had only known them by their aliases. He struggled hard to remember, hoping he had heard the name once. He felt like maybe he had, and even if he hadn't, somehow, he made the assumption that it was the blond man who had always been smiling kindly at him. He realized with a sickening drop in his stomach, that he was right, when he really looked at Syaoran's eyes for the first time. One was brown.

The other was blue.

"Why? Why did you do that?" Ryu-o didn't sound as scared as he felt. He should have been running. But this was his friend. His friend who had clearly lost all control of his body. He needed help.

"I needed power...to get the feathers."

"What about Little Kitty? And Big Puppy? Where are they?"

"Kurogane-san?" He paused "Princess...Sakura?" Syaoran asked it like he wanted Ryu-o to tell him if this was correct. Ryu-o nodded, hoping this was right. Syaoran nodded back, like he was mimicking him.

"They're alive. They probably hate me." This was the first sentence the other boy had managed to get out with pausing, or sounding confused, and the moment the words left his lips, it was like a dam had been burst. Syaoran's eyes grew wide, and he started to talk louder and louder, nothing like the seemingly soulless boy he had been seconds before.

"I'm sorry!" he gasped. "Fai-san! I'm sorry! I didn't want to!"

"Syaoran, calm down!" Ryu-o instructed, his heart breaking as tears flowed from Syaoran's mismatched eyes. The boy was clearly distraught, but Ryu-o felt a small glimmer of happiness. This boy here was his friend, whom he'd missed so much.

"Ryu-o!" Syaoran sobbed, falling to his knees. "I killed them! I killed so many people!"

Ryu-o got down on his knees, dropping his beloved sword, and putting his hands on Syaoran's bloody shoulders. "It's okay, Syaoran. You didn't want to do it, did you?"

Syaoran shook his head adamantly, and continued sobbing. "Please! Somebody stop me! I want to go back! I want to go back to Sakura!"

Now tears started to pool in Ryu-o's eyes. He'd never seen or heard such heartbreak before. What in the world had happened? And could he fix it? He would fix it if he could.

But this...didn't look like it would be so easily fixed.

"They must hate me now." Syaoran sobbed, this time not shouting. He was simply speaking towards the floor.

"No. They would never hate you. Ever!"

The shorter haired boy looked up at him, his brown eyes pleading.

"Ryu-o...please kill me..." he whispered, and Ryu-o's eyes widened.

"Wh-what?"

"Somebody has to stop me before-" But Syaoran didn't finish his sentence. The air around them grew heavy, and dark, and Ryu-o instantly knew they were being watched. And whoever was watching him was using some sort of dark magic, that surrounded Syaoran. Ryu-o hugged Syaoran close, and felt Syaoran hold him back, his arms shaking.

"Kill me..." he whispered. "Before he takes control again."

Ryu-o didn't know what to say! He didn't know what to do!

"Leave him alone!" he screamed, but nothing happened. Syaoran looked up at him, one last time, his eyes wide with what could only be called terror.

"I'm sorry...everyone." he whispered, and then, like a switch had been flipped, he was pulling out his sword, and stabbing it into Ryu-o's stomach. Ryu-o gasped, surprised and afraid. But not for himself. He was afraid for his friend.

"Syaoran." he whispered, looking up at his now standing friend. Syaoran was back to how he had been before. Dull, lifeless, and ready to kill.

"I will find the feathers. Without fail." he said these words, and Ryu-o knew he was gone. The only trace of who he had been before, were the leftover tears that were still trailing from his eyes.

A rip in the air appeared, and Syaoran looked toward it. Ryu-o watched him walk away, and he managed to get his breath together to say, "Syaoran...it'll be okay. And...I'm sorry."

Syaoran didn't pause in his footsteps, but he did look back.

And deep in his eyes, Ryu-o saw that his friend was still there, screaming, and pleading for help.

Then Ryu-o was waking up in Edonis.

His pod popped open, and he stumbled out, before falling to his knees, and sobbing for his friend.


End file.
